Going On in the Northeast

By Joan Cook

Published: November 22, 1987

SHAKESPEAREAN PHOTOS

The works of Donald Cooper, one of England's foremost theatrical photographers, opened to the public at the Yale Center for British Art yesterday and will continue through Jan. 10. His photographs of productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theater and other London theaters have appeared in The Times of London and a number of United States publications.

Mr. Cooper is to deliver a lecture, ''To Click or Not to Click,'' at 2 P.M. today in the museum's lecture hall. Scott Wilcox, assistant curator of Prints and Drawings, will discuss Mr. Cooper's photographs of ''Hamlet'' at 12:30 P.M. Tuesday. Other gallery talks will be scheduled.

The exhibit, organized by the Mount Holyoke Art Museum, consists of 72 photographs of London and Stratford productions that appeared over the last 10 years, including plays by Shakespeare, Congreve, Marlowe, Sheridan, Pinter and Shaw. Mr. Cooper says he tries to capture the essence of a performance, as demonstrated by pictures of the same play done in different productions, such as the contrasting ''Hamlets'' of Michael Pennington, Jonathan Pryce and Roger Rees.

The Center is open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 2 to 5 P.M. on Sunday. Admission is free.

Information: (203) 432-2850. CHRISTMASES PAST

A glimpse into Christmas past is provided in displays at at Winterthur Museum and Gardens in Delaware through 21 room settings that reflect the traditions of 18th- and 19th-century America. The displays, which remain on view until Jan. 3, include elaborate diner parties, an evening musicale, a Pennsylvania German quilting party and a Southern wedding celebration.

New this year are a young women's dressing room as it might have looked just before a festive night around 1800, and a Hudson River Valley Dutch chamber on the night of St. Nicholas Eve, circa 1725. The Empire vestibule will feature its first Victorian era room with a Victoria and Albert tree decorated with authentic 19th century German and English ornaments.

Guided tours lasting 75 minutes are by reservation only. Daytime tours leave every half hour, from 10 A.M. to 3:30 P.M., Tuesday through Saturday; noon to 5:30 P.M. Sunday, with evening tours Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 1 to 16 only, from 6 to 8 P.M. Daytime tours are $8 for adults, $4 for children under 17. Evening tours are $11 for adults, $5.50 for children under 17.

Winterthur is six miles northeast of Wilmington on Route 52.

Information: (302) 654-1548. NURTURING MINDS

The Children's Discovery Museum of Acton, Mass., which last month celebrated its fifth birthday of providing hands-on exhibits and programs for youngsters from 1 to 7 years of age, is about to come up with an additional treat. A Science Discovery Museum, located behind the current museum at 177 Main Street, is scheduled to open on Dec. 8.

Using The Children's Discovery Museum as a model, the new non-profit museum, designed by E. Verner Johnson & Associates, a Boston architectural firm, is expected to provide youngsters 6 years old and older, their families and educators with the opportunity to explore the natural and physical sciences through active participation and experimentation in hands-on science exhibits.

The Children's Discovery Museum, meanwhile, is titillating the youngsters with its new exhibit ''What's Inside?'', a creative exploration of space in which children are challenged to explore beneath the surface and identify a host of different objects.

Both museums will have the same hours: from 1 to 4:30 P.M., Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4.50 per person. Acton is 25 miles northwest of Boston just off Route 495.

Information: (617) 264-4200. CONTEMPORARY CONCERTS

The first in a series of three contemporary music concerts will be presented at 8 P.M. Tuesday at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. The concert, which features compositions by Stephen Jaffe, David Loeb, Philip Maneval and Vincent Persichetti, who died earlier this year, will include the premiere of Maneval's ''Quartet for English Horn, Violin, Viola and Cello.''

The next concerts will be held at 8 P.M. Feb. 17 and at 3 P.M. March 6. The Settlement Music School is at 416 Queen Street. Admission to the concerts is free. Reservations are requested in advance, if possible.